In 1709 the Statute of Anne created the first purpose-built copyright law. This blog, founded just 300 short and unextended years later, is dedicated to all things copyright, warts and all. To contact the 1709 Blog, email Jeremy at jjip@btinternet.com

1709 Blog: for all the copyright community

Thursday, 7 February 2013

The final (?) installment in the Newzbin saga

Everyone will be aware of the courts' decisions in Newzbin
and Newzbin
2. By way of short summary, Newzbin was a website which indexed and
provided links to infringing films and music. In March 2010, Mr. Justice
Kitchin ruled that Newzbin liable both for communicating copyright protected
works to the public and for authorising copyright infringement. He held that
Newzbin was deliberately indexing copyrighted content, and that "for the
year ended 31 December 2009, it had a turnover in excess of £1million, a profit
in excess of £360,000 and paid dividends on ordinary shares of £415,000".

Newzbin was temporarily shut down but came back as Newzbin 2. In
June 2011, the Motion Picture Association applied for an injunction to force BT
to cut off customers' access to Newzbin 2, which was granted by the High Court
on 28 July 2011.

In September 2011, Newzbin 2 released software which aimed to
circumvent the BT blocking, causing the High Court to order BT to block its customers'
access to the Newzbin 2 within fourteen days. This was a first in terms of UK
copyright law.

The latest in the saga is a decision from
the High Court regarding whether a copyright owner has a proprietary claim to
money derived from infringement of the copyright. Six film studios, all members
of the Motion Picture Association, claimed to be the owners or exclusive
licensees of the copyright in numerous films and television programmes, and
argued that where copyright is infringed, the copyright owner has a proprietary
claim to the whole proceeds of the infringement.

Mr Justice Newey held that the remedies for infringement of
copyright are dealt with in chapter VI of part I of the CDPA. Section 96(2)
states that, in an action for infringement of copyright, "all such relief
by way of damages, injunctions, accounts or otherwise is available to the
plaintiff as is available in respect of the infringement of any other property
right".

He concluded that:

"Despite Mr Spearman's persuasive advocacy, it seems to me
clear that a copyright owner does not have a proprietary claim to the fruits of
an infringement of copyright. I shall not, therefore, grant proprietary
injunctions."

So Hollywood won't get the profits of Newzbin's piracy.

An interesting side note: ZDNet
reported that the barrister acting
for Newzbin in its 2010 trial has been indefinitely struck off in January 2012
because he owned the file-sharing site. The Bar Standards Board disbarred
Brighton-based David Harris for breaches of paragraphs 301(a)(iii), 302,
603(d) and 901.7 of the Code of Conduct of the Bar of England and Wales.

Would you like to receive each post by email?

2,497 readers now receive The 1709 Blog by email circular. Why don't you join them? To subscribe, just type your email address in the box below, then click the 'Subscribe' button

email:

Folllow us on Twitter

The 1709 Blog, and some of the choice comments of its blog team on copyright topics, can now be followed on Twitter at @1709Blog. When we last looked, we had 1,063 followers so, if you sign up, you won't be alone!

Originality in EU Copyright

1709 Blog team member Eleonora has just published her first book, entitled Originality in EU Copyright (Edward Elgar Publishing, here).

Pageviews since April 2009

Distance learning and forthcoming events

Postgraduate Diploma in Media and Entertainment Law, by Distance Learning over 12 months: 21 September 2015 to 31 August 2016: under the auspices of the London Metropolitan University. 8 core modules plus options on Defamation and the Politics of Media Regulation. For full details of this course and also for registration, just click http://www.ibclegal.com/FKW12364SON.

*********************************

17 to 21 August 2015: IBC Legal's 15th Annual Intellectual Property Law Summer School, held as usual in the lovely and congenial surroundings of Downing College, Cambridge. As befits this popular event, there is an all-star cast. In addition, 1709 Blog team blogger Jeremy will be running a trade mark-based dispute resolution exercise on the Thursday afternoon. There is a generous 20% registration fee discount for 1709 Blog readers who click here to register, quoting the VIP Code of FKW825641709.

17 and 18 September 2015: "Enrolling Internet Intermediaries in the Law Enforcement Process: Challenges and Opportunities", the first iClic Conference, in sunny Southampton, starring our very own Eleonora plus a strong supporting cast. Click here for details.

24 September 2015: "Protecting the Media 2015", to be held somewhere in Central London. This popular IBC Legal event is now in its 21st year -- which still makes it a good deal younger than some of the seasoned campaigners who appear on the all-star programme. Speakers include Michael Skrein, Gavin Millar QC, Heather Rogers QC and The Sun's Justin Walford. Click here for details of the agenda and registration. To enjoy the privilege of a handsome 15% 170 Blog readers' discount, remember to quote the special code FKW82777SON.